BlockBefore

Laurel, Montana

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Laurel census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59044. The Survey maps it on the Laurel quadrangle. 7,222 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,301 feet above sea level.

Laurel within Yellowstone County

On record in Laurel

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 4 records

Population over time

2 figures

Laurel grew from 6,718 to 7,222 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20106,718
20207,222+504 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

77 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 77 fires within 5 miles of Laurel between 1997 and 2020, burning about 74 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined65
Debris and open burning5
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Fireworks2
Natural1
Recreation and ceremony1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
11 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Land OfficeI-90 MM 437
25 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.3 acresSouthern Land OfficeSPRING CREEK
25 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Land OfficeEAST RAILROAD & BARNHART RD
24 August 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouthern Land OfficeLAUREL MM433
24 August 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMiles City Field OfficeANDY
19 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Land Office905 W. MAIN-LAUREL
19 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Land OfficePRYOR CREEK
15 August 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresYellowstone CountyWOLD RD

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Yellowstone County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Laurel: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Krug Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Mossmain Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Yellowstone County

Storms near this place

46 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Laurel in 46 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 33 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 1994Thunderstorm WindLaurel$500,000At Laurel hanger damaged at airport and trees down around town. At Billings Airport plane was turned over. Lots of roof and tree damage around town.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindLaurel$50,000no account filed
June 1994HailLaurel$5,000no account filed
June 2025HailLaurel-Hail report.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindLaurel-A tree approximately 6 inches in diameter was downed.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindLaurel-An estimated wind gust of 60 mph was reported in Laurel.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindLaurel-The public reported 6-8 diameter tree branches broken along with a power outage and a roof being blown off a dugout.
May 2007HailLaurel-Winds were gusting around 30 to 40 mph.
July 2007Flash FloodLaurel-A road was reported washed out in the city of Laurel.
June 2001HailLaurel-Windows smashed and roof damaged
July 2001HailLaurel-Hail covered the ground
July 2000Thunderstorm WindLaurel-Wind damage and power outage.
July 1998Funnel CloudLaurel-Several spotters and amateur radio operators reported funnel clouds in and around Laurel.
July 2022HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2022HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2022HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2022HailLaurel-no account filed
June 2021HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2021HailLaurel-no account filed
May 2019HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2018HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2018HailLaurel-no account filed
May 2016HailLaurel-no account filed
May 2014HailLaurel-no account filed
August 2011Thunderstorm WindLaurel-no account filed
July 2011HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2008HailLaurel-no account filed
August 2006HailLaurel-no account filed
June 2005HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2004HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2002HailLaurel-no account filed
September 2002HailLaurel-no account filed
June 2001HailLaurel-no account filed
June 2001HailLaurel-no account filed
June 2001HailLaurel-no account filed
June 2001HailLaurel-no account filed
June 2001HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2001HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2001HailLaurel-no account filed
July 2001HailLaurel-no account filed
July 1997Tornado (F0)Laurel-no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindLaurel-no account filed
February 1997FloodLaurel-no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindLaurel-no account filed
July 1996HailLaurel-no account filed
May 1994HailLaurel-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Yellowstone County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Mossmain3.4 miles11
Spurling4.1 miles11
Hesper6.0 miles11
Baseline8.7 miles11
Yegen8.7 miles12
Rimrock9.9 miles11
Cameron Park13.5 miles11
Billings16.4 miles11

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on LaurelAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q768628The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 773254. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.